MSI Afterburner Developer Hasn't been Paid for a Year, Product Development in Limbo

[Zaqq]

MSI PC hardware continued to be sold in the Russian market throughout 2022.

But how do they pay for support, rma, marketing?

 

[Exilarch]

There are thousands of American companies doing business in Russia right now. I know, because one of the companies I work for is investing heavily in Russia right now. The Biden administration just gave a "recommendation" of not supporting Russia's business and somewhere around 15% of all American companies decided to pull the plug on their operations there. The big bucks are still in energy business and tons and tons in IT. It didn't make a dent, to be honest, because nobody in US cares. Well, maybe Germany cares more, but that's a different story. And here we have MSI using this as an excuse to not pay a single dev. One dev. For over a year. This is ridiculous. He should've pulled the plug with first late pay and get a different job. This one company I have contract with is employing over 800 people from both Russia and Ukraine right now, and they don't have a problem paying any of them. This is just low from MSI.

 

[Ruru]

Pretty hella stupid to mix politics to paying the guy for his job, just because of his nationality.

 

[Chrispy_]

If MSI still sold products in Russia, not paying him is a scumbag move.

 

[claes]

I feel like everyone here is having a stronger reaction than unwinder is. Sounds like there was a problem paying him through his bank that just hasn’t been resolved yet. Screw-up on MSI’s part for sure, but unwinder seems to have expected that a resolution would come sooner than later.

Folks pointing to using a third-part as a solution are probably correct, but I could understand why unwinder might not want to deal with that hassle, especiallly while navigating sanctions. Hopefully something works out and he gets back-pay in full and can continue development. Sounds like a nice job.

 

[lexluthermiester]

@ MSI
Seriously? Get your fraking heads out of your bums and get your INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED developer of the INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED software paid!

Failure to do so will render him the right to take his code, strip out everything specifically related to MSI and make a universal utility.... Wait, that's a good idea! On second thought...

@ MSI
Don't do anything, keep screwing things up..

 

[Dyatlov A]

Penalizing such a good guy, who has absolutely nothing to do with this got damn war.

 

[Diverge]

Regardless of the ban on Russia, MSI just isn't a good company. They are shady and have been involved in a number of scandals.

 

[phanbuey]

Penalizing such a good guy, who has absolutely nothing to do with this got damn war.

There's only one man that can end this war.

 

[KingSaul]

Regardless of the ban on Russia, MSI just isn't a good company. They are shady and have been involved in a number of scandals.

What scandals?

 

[Denver]

They should pay in BTC and that's it... Not a big problem.

 

[Diverge]

What scandals?

Just Google MSI company scandals. You'll see pages of them listed. There are so many, spanning a large amount of time. One of their CEO's even fell from their HQ and died...

 

[Bruno_O]

fuck msi, it's one bad market practice after another (check gamer nexus videos on them)
at this stage I will actively avoid their products

 

[95Viper]

Stick to the topic.
This is not a discussion about who is at fault for the war in Ukraine, who can stop it, or who the leader is that is responsible.

 

[NRANM]

I know it's considered cool and maybe even fun to hate on someone or something, but I want to be objective and point out that we have not heard MSI's comments on the situation. Granted, I doubt MSI would address this, but that doesn't change the fact that it would be unfair to form a final opinion/judgement based on only one side of the story. And it looks like there are plenty of people here ready to grab their (virtual) torches and pitchforks.

It is also interesting that Unwinder himself seems to understand MSI's position, at least to an extent, as he literally says in one of the posts there:

But it is not their fault at all. They'd love to keep the project alive, but they cannot and will not cancel or bypass sanctions and make SWIFT magically work here.

Of course, this still leaves a few questions: has either side attempted to find an solution; if yes, were there any alternatives; if yes (again) what were the hurdles that could not be overcome.
Based on the very sparse information we have thus far, it seems to me that both sides are being passive about this.

Let's keep our heads cool.

 

[Udyr]

I apologize if this is off-topic, but some proofreading is needed here:

"The discontinuation of Afterburner would graphics card overclocking in jeopardy"

 

[Wirko]

I know it's cool and maybe even fun to hate on someone or something, but I want to be objective and point out that we have not heard from MSI's comments on the situation. Granted, I doubt MSI would address this, but that doesn't change the fact that it would be unfair to form a final opinion/judgement based on only one side of the story. And it looks like there are plenty of people here ready to grab their (virtual) torches and pitchforks.

It is also interesting that Unwinder himself seems to understand MSI's position, at least to an extent, as he literally says in one of the posts there:


Of course, this still leaves a few questions: has either side attempted to find an solution; if yes, were there any alternatives; if yes (again) what were the hurdles that could not be overcome.
Based on the very sparse information we have thus far, it seems to me that both sides are being passive about this.

Let's keep our heads cool.

Now Tom's Hardware says MSI said they're finally doing something.

 

[KingSaul]

Just Google MSI company scandals. You'll see pages of them listed. There are so many, spanning a large amount of time. One of their CEO's even fell from their HQ and died...

I'll check, thanks

 

[kiriakost]

@ MSI
Don't do anything, keep screwing things up..

Nothing worst than that

 

[JAB Creations]

I hope the developer gets his fiances on track one way or another, much luck to him!

Yet they're still doing business in Russia.

Yeah, that single developer of an entire GPU program was the one who started the war with Ukraine. Have you ever stopped to think that what governments and people say and do don't match up? Nah, it's easier to go mouthing off in news articles about things you clerly don't comprehend and have zero respect for.

 

[claes]

Think you misunderstood… MSI is still selling cards in Russia. @Chomiq wasnt talking about the developer or who’s responsible for the war at all…

 

[Emu]

Regarding MSI Afterburner though, the whole situation is terrible. MSI needs to do something to allow development to continue and for the guy to get paid. Even if this means letting go of the licensing and allowing for the guy to get paid by others.

 

[Muck Muster]

Well, I'll have pass MSI as one of my prominent hardwear providers. I don't like it but I had to swear off my 'pride and joy' Nvidia for it's foul treatment of EVGA. It's the only way to protest such an incompetency. It's pretty 5h!tty when somebody decides they won't figure out a solution. I had a good friend who worked for a subsidiary of a networking firm. He worked tirelessly for months till he couldn't afford to support his family. They owed him thousands of dollars. He couldn't afford to sue them so his calls for rescue fell on deaf ears. Yeah, stuff like that is a travesty

 

[claes]

So weird that everyone here is writing off MSI while unwinder gives them the benefit of the doubt. Sanctions against banks are real — I can’t imagine what a pain it is to send money to someone in a country whose banks can’t accept foreign transactions. They probably just used direct deposit through a third-party payroll company before the war.

I have no allegiance to any corporation, but sounds like unwinder has a good relationship with MSI other than the bank problem which isn’t MSI’s fault. That said, they probably should’ve figured something out by now. I doubt sending a check is wise given the circumstances, and I personally would prefer cash to bitcoin or products I’d have to resell myself, but then again HR departments everywhere are awful at these things.

 

[AusWolf]

Let's be honest: we wouldn't even need Afterburner if Nvidia bothered to include an overclocking and monitoring tool in their GPU driver just like AMD and Intel do.

This is still a shady move on MSi's part, though.